1. In the second epistle of Peter, we discover why the apostle spoke concerning the false teachers and the scoffers of the word of the Lord, in addition to his giving emphasis to the present truth, the prophetic word,that brings assurance and direction by way of the apostles. Starting from Acts 15, the church in Jerusalem lost its vigor and the operation of the Spirit through miracles and signs. Their wonderful story was interrupted because they failed to persevere in the teachings of the apostles, and because of this the Spirit no longer had the freedom among them. Agroup of the Pharisees in the church in Jerusalem, those of the circumcision, wanted to impose, as a requirement for salvation, the observance of the law of Moses. The strategy of God’s enemy was to undermine the true gospel through the Jewish traditions. Two different gospels do not exist; there is just one gospel, only one word, that the Lord sends through the apostles: the gospel of Christ (Acts 2:42; 15:1-21).
2. The great pressure exerted by the Jews against the church was because of the abandoning of the customs of the law of Moses. In that first cruel persecution, the brothers and sisters were arrested, mistreated, and punished, and it culminated in the death of Stephen. In that initial period, the church followed the direction of the gospel of Christ but they underwent pressure to declare that they had not abandoned the law of Moses. God’s intention, upon telling Peter to eat the unclean animals, was to break his Jewish concept and to prepare him to preach the gospel to the gentiles in order to bring them into the Body of Christ. Nevertheless, Peter had to give explanations to those of the sect of the Pharisees about the episode in the house of Cornelius. After this, when the gospel began to spread through the entire region, it was initially only for the Jews and then afterwards for the Greeks. Thus emerged the first church among the Gentiles in the city of Antioch, where the Spirit foundspace to work. Later, Paul and Barnabas were sent to carry out the work(Acts 6:8-15; 10:1-48; 22:4, 5, 18-21; 26:9-12; 13:1-2).
3. Upon returning to the church in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas discovered that some had descended from Judea preaching another gospel and because of that, they went to Jerusalem to deal with this very serious matter. What is the difference between the Law and faith? In the faith, God grants the Holy Spirit, who brings the authority of God to govern the church. That government comes through the word of the apostles. In the church there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles because we all are living in a new stage. Our heart was purified because we believed in Jesus, and not because of the works of the Law. This is the subject of the book of Galatians (Acts 15:1-2; Gal3:11, 23-28).
4. In Acts 15, an abnormality arose, because Peter was the main leader of the work and should have given the conclusion of the fellowship. However, the one that concluded it was James, the brother of Jesus, that, in spite of being a pious man, was not clear and sought to conciliate the Law with the faith. Therefore, James became the principal leader, whereas Peter, who was clear, lacked firmness. This altered the church-life in Jerusalem, and in Acts 21, eight years later, none of the apostleswere mentioned. During Jesus’ ministry on Earth, James never followed the Lord closely. The leaders of the churches should closely follow the word; otherwise, distortions will occur with respect to what the Lord is doing in our midst and will make us vulnerable to the actions of the enemy. May nothing become a method among us. We do not follow methods. We follow the Spirit, who must have freedom in our midst. The Spirit comes through the word (Acts 15:13; 21:18-25; John 6:63).
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